An online column by senior journalist Aaron Patrick, headlined ‘Why I wouldn’t marry Sussan Ley’, has triggered a fierce backlash from female MPs, reigniting debate over how women in Australian politics are framed by the media as the Liberal Party’s leadership turmoil deepens.
The piece, published in The Nightly , arrived as Opposition Leader Sussan Ley faces escalating internal pressure, with reports Andrew Hastie and Angus Taylor are holding talks about when to move against her – a backdrop that has sharpened criticism of how the story was told, and by whom.
Patrick’s article opens with an imagined domestic scenario that recasts Ley not as a political leader, but as a frustrating wife who has damaged a government-financed BMW and refuses to explain herself.
“Imagine you live with Sussan Ley and she arrives home from work after badly damaging the family car, a government-financed white BMW,’’ Patrick writes in the article.
“The circumstances are murky. Another vehicle was involved: a Toyota LandCruiser with a full-size bull bar driven by a short, prideful man.
“Naturally, you have questions: what happened, is the car a write off, and, if so, what will it be replaced with?
“She doesn’t want to talk about the car crash.”
The metaphor, designed to frame Coalition infighting as a domestic dispute, was intended to critique Ley’s handling of party splits – but critics say the framing turned a political analysis into something far more personal and gendered.
“You’re confused. After eight months with Sussan, you still don’t know her well, but you instinctively feel she’s hard-working, honest and decent,’’ Patrick writes in the piece.
“Which is why you’re willing to give the benefit of the doubt.”
MPs push back
Liberal MP Maria Kovacic was among the first to publicly condemn the article, calling both the column and its headline “disgraceful”.
“Is this the standard we now accept as political journalism?” she said.
“If so, we shouldn’t be surprised when public trust continues to erode.
“Good political commentary leads with ideas and analysis, not personal judgments.
“Certainly not a headline about whether a political leader is ‘good marriage material.’ Except, it seems, when that politician happens to be the first woman to lead the Liberal Party.”
The intervention from within Ley’s own party underscored how raw the reaction has been, not just to the piece itself but to what it symbolises about the way female leaders are covered.
‘Deeply sexist’
Former Liberal MP Nicolle Flint went further, labelling the column one of the most sexist things she had read in Australian politics.
“This bizarre column is not only deeply sexist, but terribly written,” she said.
“Mr Patrick should retire, or find some way to return to the 1800s, where he & his views might find more currency.
“Whoever published this should consider the same.”
The criticism places a spotlight not only on Patrick, but on The Nightly as a publisher – and on the broader political-media ecosystem that allows commentary about leadership to slide into personal, gendered framing, particularly when a woman is in the job.
The site has since amended the headline to this:
Although the URL remains the same:
As do the comments:
